29 July, 2004

Nothing And Something

We start, then, with nothing, pure
zero. But this is not the nothing of negation. For not means other than, and
other is merely a synonym of the ordinal numeral second. As such it implies a
first; while the present pure zero is prior to every first. The nothing of
negation is the nothing of death, which comes second to, or after, everything.
But this pure zero is the nothing of not having been born. There is no
individual thing, no compulsion, outward nor inward, no law. It is the germinal
nothing, in which the whole universe is involved or foreshadowed. As such, it is
absolutely undefined and unlimited possibility -- boundless possibility. There
is no compulsion and no law. It is boundless freedom.

Cactus Recipes

All opuntia species are
edible (non-toxic) but some species are easier to use than others. Two parts of
the plant are edible, the pads (nopalitos) and the pear (tuna). The pads are
vegetable and the pear is fruit.

Posted on 29 July, 2004

The Skin Bag

At last an epidermic, polysemic accessory, a successful alchemy
between captivating & repulsive for a less accommodating yet terribly efficient
fashion. Its skin-like appearance and its feel provides an enticing and reaction
provoking object.

Mispronounced Words

Now that Dr. Language
has provided a one-stop cure for the plague of misspelling, here are the 100
words most often mispronounced English words ("mispronunciation" among them).
There are spelling rules in English even if they are difficult to understand, so
pronouncing a word correctly usually does help you spell it correctly. Several
common errors are the result of rapid speech, so take your time speaking,
correctly enunciating each word. Careful speech and avid reading are the best
guides to correct spelling.

And yes, the list does include nuclear.

The British and Australians find the American repetition of the
[u] between the [k] and [l] quaintly amusing. Good reason to get it right.

Posted on 29 July, 2004

Bird Egg Gallery

All birds lay eggs. These exhibit a great
diversity of shape, colour and patterns. Despite their fragility, the calcium
carbonate shells provide protection and a self-enclosed environment for the
developing chicks.

Steve Jobs' Beard

The Beard O' Jobs is not about Steve Jobs. It does not support
or worship Steve Jobs. It is about the state of the Beard of Steve Jobs, past,
present, and future.Nothing more. By the way, his wife makes him shave it.

Photo Manipulation By Drudge

This is interesting. It seems that Matt Drudge took one of
Tom Tomorrow's photos, changed it a bit, and then published it on the
Drudge Report.

So basically, rather than just give a
leftie cartoonist a small photo credit, he steals the picture and goes to the
trouble of changing a red traffic light to green, flopping the image and
altering traffic signs, all presumably in a clumsy attempt to give himself some
sort of imagined plausible deniability.

Posted on 29 July, 2004

Plumber's Truck

Shifting Gears

Many writers and arrangers feel that when their song is in risk
of getting a bit tired, it can be given a fresh lease of life by shifting the
whole song up a key, usually in between choruses, towards the beginning of a
"repeat-till-fade" section. You may have heard this technique informally
referred to as "modulation", but the correct ethnomusicological term for the
phenomenon is the truck driver's gear change. This reflects the utterly
predictable and laboured nature of the transition, evoking a tired and
over-worked trucker ramming the gearstick into the new position with his - or,
to be fair, her - fist.

Contrary to what many people seem to think, the truck driver's
gear change is in no way inventive, interesting or acceptable: it is in fact an
utterly appalling and unimaginative admission that you've run out of inspiration
and the song should have ended one minute ago; but you're under pressure to make
something which can be stretched out to the length of a single.